The biggest decision in building AI apps today is simple.
Local AI or Cloud AI.
Both approaches have advantages.
But they are not interchangeable.
Cloud AI Strengths
Cloud AI is easy to start with.
No setup
Access to powerful models
Quick experimentation
But it comes with tradeoffs.
Latency
Cost scaling
External dependency
Local AI Strengths
Local AI provides control.
Models run on your machine.
This means:
Low latency
No per request cost
Full data privacy
Where Cloud Still Wins
Cloud models are stronger for:
Complex reasoning
Large context tasks
Edge cases
But they should not be the default.
The Right Approach
The best approach is hybrid.
Local-first for most tasks.
Cloud for specific needs.
How Avery NXR Does This
Avery runs a local model by default.
Cloud models are used only when explicitly needed.
This ensures control without losing capability.
Final Thought
The question is not local or cloud.
It is where each fits best.
